Do gamers want free-to-play as the main method of payment?

Free-to-play is all the rage lately, with a few of EA's head honchos suggesting that it will be the main method of payment by the end of the decade. Is that a good or bad thing? 8Bit Envy weighs in on the subject.

[Wizziokid]

It all boils down to how they do the free-to-play

If it's Buy-to-Win then I wont touch the game

[caseh]

@Wizziokid

Free-to-play/Buy-to-Win are effectively the same thing, its free to play but you gotta buy to win. :)

[Wizziokid]

No they aren't, buy-to-win = you purchase an item i.e. a weapon which is over-powered compared to standard weapons in game and no one else can get it unless they pay.

Then you have the GW2 free-to-play model which allows you to purchase cosmetic items which don't effect your character in anyway apart from appearance or temp buffs which again don't make you more powerful than anyone else, so that means it's not buy-to-win.

the line gets blurred at times but their is a difference.

@caseh

But there is a difference, hence the point I made I never said how big the gap was I just said there was a difference and you just agreed cancelling out your original comment.

[caseh]

The line is blurred because the games you describe are 99% of one and like 1% of the other.

99% Buy/pay-to-win
1% free-to-play

@Wizziokid

I didn't agree to anything, I said they are effectively the same thing and they are. There are like 1001 buy/pay-to-win games and litterally none that are free to play that anyone is going to invest any great amounts of time into. Bet you struggle to name more than 3 that are COMPLETELY free.

[ABizzel1]

Honestly it really just depends on the game.

I think all console MMO's should be free-to-play simply because there's very little to make them want to stay around and play a MMO for years vs. PC gamers who are willing to spend that amount of time on a single game. Console gamers bounce around from game to game constantly and that can't be good for any MMO. So unless you're making a Skyrim MMO, or some other well established, multimillion dollar MMO it should be free to play.

Now buy-to-win doesn't bother me. If you wan to make your experience easier by buying an item to help you progress through the game then fine it's your money. But don't let players buy items that are exclusive to the pay to play model. And if they buy it allow it to unlock the level cap for items in PvE, but not in PvP so that the game is fair for everyone.

Free-to-play is great because it allows people to play your game that would never have bought it, but it's not going to be the complete future of gaming not when there is money to be made off of AAA games.

[Somebody]

It boils down to what type of games that uses the models. The action games are mostly buy to win while the rpgs are free to play.

RPGs such as GW2 are about exploring big fantasy worlds and fight AI monsters. So buying cosmetic items to make your character look awesome is part of the mechanic. All the XP accumulations are through tedious grinds. But at least you look awesome while grinding those hours away.

Action F2P games on the other hand is all about owning the other guy in fast paced arenas hence they are buy to win games. Why would you be buying a purple kevlar vest when most of the time you are exploding around the map (not to mention those shiny cosmetic items are not that technically suited/useful for a gun fight). Standard multiplayer games like BF3 and CoD have double XP weekends from time to time while F2P shooters have these bonuses all the time - you just have to pay for them.

Personally I don't mind F2P games but lately there are just too much classic PC games being turned into F2P, e.g Silent Hunter, Anno, Heroes of Might and Magic, C&C Generals and Mech Warrior. I used to wait for these games' sequels, hoping for a continuation of their campaign stories but now their future will simply be online matches. Now it feels like the studios are merely giving away the online component of the games I used to play.

Good bye story, hello Long Lance Torpedo+2 (now for $5 only for 5 days!).

[matgrowcott]

I'm not sure free-to-play is exactly the way to go, but something needs to be done. I can't think of a better alternative. Maybe an honour system; "if you enjoy this game, pay what you think it's worth."

There's no simple answers, however you want to look at it.

[JustinNico]

"if you enjoy this game, pay what you think it's worth."

That's what Humble Bundle is all about, which is great for indie games, but I'm not so sure it'll work to fund AAA games. Still, it's a nice alternative that seems to generate a good amount of cash (and exposure) for smaller companies.

[matgrowcott]

That was my thought. Some people are terrible and would just pay a few dollars. A good number would pay what they're paying now if they thought it was worth it. Others would pay more. It might just even out to the point where it might work, but again, not a perfect solution.

The only definite thing is that $60/£40 isn't working.

[Jdoki]

I don't mind the subscription. But I would prefer a 'Pay as you go' model. I often buy a month here and there for MMO's, and then get bored. It works for me - but I'd rather pay for the actual hours I put in.

Free to Play often has too many limitations. And Pay to Win is a horrendous idea.

I wonder if a 'Pay per Level' model might work... So you get the first few levels free, then have to pay to 'unlock' every level after that. You could play as much as you like, but wouldn't gain any more XP until you've paid. There's no perfect answer.

[JustinNico]

Pay per level wouldn't work IMO, because by the time you're level 10/50/100 whatever, you'd have spent the same cost as a game. Six in one, half a dozen in the other sort of argument.

[garbage_makesmoney33]

All the free to play games ive played look mediocre so hell no.

[helghast102]

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

[Moby-Royale]

That was funny. You said no more times than somebody would, normally.

Whew! That was crazy.

[Brosy]

Hell no!!! I have yet to play a F2P game that was worth the time.

[Spenok]

Absolutely not. I have tried my hand at a few F2P titles, and while some of them are good (pretty much only the ones that started out as pay to play games), they just have that system that always pushes you to buy something to make the game feel like it should without having to buy something.

Works for some people, doesn't work for me.